The Lord of Uzu
by ReaderMike
Summary: Many have speculated that Nami no Kuni was once Uzu no Kuni. Though none have speculated as to what would happen if the royal family were to return to their homeland. Enter Uzumaki Naruto, the heir of Uzu. Slash and Het
1. Prologue: The Ignorant Heir

**Alas poor fandom, I own you not.**

**Seriously, I don't own Naruto, the only thing of Naruto I do own is a Suna headband I bought at Comicon in Seattle like….8 years ago..and a Gaara sweatshirt so I totally don't own the franchise, No suing!**

**This fanfic has been tumbling about in my brain, so I've got no choice but to write it now if I want to be able to concentrate on anything else.**

**Prologue: The Ignorant Heir**

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Tsunami had never been one to believe in the old ways. She didn't believe that a powerful clan, who had long since been wiped out, would return one day and make life better for herself and her people. In fact, Tsunami believed that it was up to Wave to protect itself, that they had to make their own lives better instead of waiting for someone to save them.

Yet despite this belief, Tsunami found herself sitting before her altar and praying to the ancestors for her father's safety. Tazuna, like her husband before him, was trying to save Wave on his own. His super plan, their triumph, lay in the creation of The Super Bridge, and with its completion they'd be able to shake off Gatou's crippling hold on their country.

Unfortunately, Gatou was no fool. He'd sent ninja to harass the workers, so in response Tazuna had made the hazardous journey to Hi no Kuni to acquire super ninja to combat them. He should have made it back yesterday. A day overdue already and Tsunami was beginning to suspect the worse had happened, which had made her resort to this, to praying to the ancestors to keep Tazuna safe. If Tazuna were to perish, it would only be her and her precious Inari left. How long they would last, she didn't know.

The sound of the front door slamming open startled her. Quickly she picked up the knife she'd taken to carrying around with her and moved towards the front of the house, prepared to do whatever she could to protect her precious child. That determination slowly bled from her as she heard the muffled voice of her father, her heart warming to hear him safe and home. She hastened her steps but was unprepared for the sight before her.

True her father had gotten ninja to help them, but they were children! The only adult ninja they had seemed to be unconscious and being supported by the two boys. One with hair as dark as night and a blue shirt, the other was a blond boy who was clearly his polar opposite sporting a hideously orange track suit..but there on the shoulder. Those markings…it could not be. The boy was the wrong coloring. His hair was not red. His eyes were not the color of steel. He was wrong, everything was wrong, and yet he bore the white spiral.

"And this is my super awesome daughter Tsunami," Tazuna proclaimed proudly and startled Tsunami from her thoughts, her disbelief. Had her father not noticed? Perhaps he had not, or perhaps the boy was merely a pretender. Surely he could not be what she thought he was.

"It is a pleasure to meet you ninja-san," Tsunami said carefully bowing to the others. She had to show proper respect, these were trained killers even if they were children.

"Yeah nice to meet ya too. Could we put Kakashi-sensei somewhere? He's getting kind of heavy," the blond said as he struggled with the grey haired man.

Nodding Tsunami quickly led them upstairs to the guest bedroom where she watched the two youths place the man on the bed, the young pink haired girl moving to watch over the body while the boys quickly left, to scout the perimeter, the dark haired youth had said as they departed.

Still a little dazed, Tsunami made her way back downstairs where her father was getting into their sake once again. "Is he who I think he is?" she asked as she looked over at him.

"He's not one of them," her father said grumpily as he took a swig of the alcohol. "At least, he wasn't raised by one of them. He doesn't seem to be a super ninja like they were," he said gruffly as he rubbed his face. "But…the boy was poisoned."

"Poisoned?" Tsunami asked as she looked at her father. "And why aren't they giving him treatment?"

"It happened days ago; boy got cut by some kind of super gauntlet thing. Took a kunai and stabbed his hand. He's got super guts at least," her father mused as he took another swig. "Bled the poison out. Didn't even bother to bandage it up. He was super fine when we set up camp that day. He could be one of them, but I saw him fight," he said wincing and taking another gulp. "The moves are there..the circles and super spirals and everything. But not the super grace. Like he's half trained. He's super smart though. Helped distract some super bad guy so that his sensei could take him out. Guy was supposed to be beyond any of the kiddies' level, but they managed to free their sensei."

"Did you manage to catch his name?" Tsunami asked anxiously. Was it possible that the boy was a survivor? Someone that had been orphaned by the attack perhaps?

"Naruto," her father said, his eyes looking into hers and for once she saw more than steely determination. For once she saw the glimmer of hope. "Uzumaki Naruto."

"Does he know?"

"No…he doesn't know anything. I asked the Hokage about him when I was picking the team. Boy was an orphan, barely passed the ninja exams. He doesn't know where he came from. Doesn't know about us."

"But he's here now. We could tell him. We need him father," Tsunami said. Dreams long thought dead awakening in her. A path back to the golden era her father and grandfather spoke of. Of the time when the Spiral was with the Wave.

"The Hokage will not relieve him from service," the man said grumpily. "The boy wants to take his place…and the treaty is still in effect."

"The treaty. But he could be the last one! Surely they could afford to give him back to us! It's his birthright!"

"And it is his duty to serve the Hokage. I couldn't do that to him Tsunami. I don't want to give him a burden he can't take up, a duty he can't complete. If he is one of them, it would tear him apart to know his duty and be unable to fulfill it."

"But father, if he is an orphan. Doesn't he have the right to know?" she asked as she looked at the man who sired her. "If you had known Kaiza's parents, would you have withheld that information from him?" she demanded.

"That's not it Tsunami," Tazuna said as he took another swig. "That's not it. The Hokage said that his parents were super ninja. The best of the very best. They had enemies. If Naruto were to come home, if the Spiral returned to Wave…it would destroy us both. They would destroy us to get to him, and we could not protect him. He must stay in Konoha, in Hi no Kuni, where those who hide in leaves could protect him. They still have a ninja force. Ours is scattered."

"Then I will take him there."

"Tsunami?"

"I will take him to the center of the Spiral. Not to take up his birthright," she elaborated to her father. "If the Spiral will never again meet the Wave, then he should at least take his history with him when he leaves. Perhaps then we will no longer have to wait for people who will not return to us," she said dejectedly. The hope had died once more. It hurt, much like the death of her husband had. To know that an Uzumaki had returned to Uzu no Kuni, and would be unable to revive Uzushiogakure no Sato. "Whirlpool is no more."

Her father's calloused hand enfolded hers, and he looked at her with the determination that had kept their family going despite Gatou's attempts. "As long as there is a Spiral and as long as there is a Wave, Whirlpool will never die."

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	2. Chapter 1: The Unknown Bargain

**Alas poor fandom, I own you not.**

**Chapter 1: The Unknown Bargain**

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Tazuna's house was pretty awesome. There was a garden filled with vegetables, a swing set in the back, a nice sprawling forest all around it, and nice high grass. It was a lovely place, and Naruto had enjoyed himself when he scouted out the premises. Of course he did a better job than Sasuke, his shadow clones let him cover way more ground than that prince could. Ah Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, how he could count the ways. He was sure that with that powerful jutsu he could eventually become the Hokage, and then he'd finally have recognition.

The Old Drunk had a nice family. His daughter Tsunami was very beautiful, and she made really awesome onigiri. She'd given him some rice balls to take with him when he went on patrol today, and she didn't give any to Sasuke! She could clearly see he was better than that jerk. Naruto hadn't seen hide nor hair of the grandkid Inari though, the boy had taken to hiding up in his room. Maybe the kid was shy.

Still today he had an important mission. He was to guard Tsunami as she was picking some herbs for Kakashi-sensei near some old ruins. They were going to make some sort of tea that would help him get better. Sakura-chan hadn't liked the idea of splitting up, but Sasuke had said that he could take care of the rest of the family better than the dead last could. Oh how he wanted to deck that smug asshole for saying that, but he'd already volunteered to protect Tsunami, and he wasn't going to make a mess of her house. Tsunami was a good mom, and he respected her for that. Plus she gave him more rice than Sasuke at dinner.

"Oy Tsunami-neechan what are these ruins of?" he asked as he looked around. The crumbling ruins looked like they were part of a fortress. Had it fallen in some epic battle with thousands of jutsu and ninjas? There were weird circular holes here and there as if everything inside the circle vanished. Those were kinda cool. He wondered what kind of jutsu did something like that, it was probably S-ranked!

"These ruins used to be a hidden village." Tsunami said as she made her way through the ruins. They were going to gather some flowers that only grew at the center of the ruins.

"Wow really? Like Konoha?"

"Yes just like Konoha. In fact this village and Konoha used to be allies," the woman said as they continued to walk down the heavily damaged street. Naruto's clones keeping an eye out so he could walk beside her.

"Really? I never really paid attention to history class. So what happened?" he asked as he looked around more curious than ever. This used to be an ally?

Tsunami let out a sigh. "Treachery," she said to the male. "This village was a small but powerful one," she said as she stepped over a rock. "They were well known for their fighting prowess..and their skills in fuinjutsu."

"Fuinjutsu?"

"Yes..the art of sealing."

"You mean like storage scrolls?"

"Well yes, things like storage scrolls."

"But how is that awesome? I mean sure you could put like a billion kunai in a storage scroll, but that's not an awesome jutsu. It's good for traps I guess."

She gave the male a bit of a smile. "I suppose. I'm not a ninja, but see those craters?" she asked as she pointed to one where the circular crater had encompassed most of a house leaving a perfect gaping circle in the stone structure.

"Yeah, I see it."

"Well my grandfather told me that that was a fuinjutsu attack," she said to the male. "That everything in the circle was sucked up into a void and taken away by the shinigami. He said that the people who lived here where so great at fuinjutsu that they could do amazing things. Even things like sealing away spirits and monsters."

"Oh wow..that is pretty cool," he said as he put a hand on his stomach. So the seal that kept the kyuubi inside of him was Fuinjutsu? That it could cause those craters he was seeing spotted throughout the ruins. That was actually…kind of awesome. He was definitely going to look into this sealing stuff when he got back. If the Yondaime could use it to beat the Kyuubi, then what else could it do?

"So what happened to them?"

"The other villages grew jealous. In the dead of night they attacked without a declaration of war. Kirigakure, Kumogakure, Iwagakure, Kusagakure, and several others spearheaded an attack. The leading clan fought to the very last to provide time for the civilians and other ninja clans to escape. Without the leaders, the remaining ninja clans scattered throughout Wave. Some say they are still hiding, waiting for the day that the ruling clan would come back and bring this village back to glory."

"But why didn't Konoha come to help?"

"Fighting had just started between them and Suna. While Konoha was distracted, they wiped out this village," she said mournfully as they neared the center. Naruto noticed that there were more and more of the circular craters as they neared the center of the village, where a proud tower stood unblemished.

"But Konoha got them right?"

"I don't know everything Naruto," she said chuckling. "I do know that Konoha killed the Sandaime Mizukage, decimated Kusagakure, and dealt significant damage to Iwa's forces."

"That was the Yondaime," Naruto said grinning. He knew all about how the Yondaime took apart Iwa's forces with his ANBU Partner The Red Hot Habennero. That redheaded guy was amazing, he killed about half as many as the Yondaime, and was a contender for the Yondaime's seat, but had graciously backed down and served as the Yondaime's bodyguard.

"This place..it's really sad," Naruto said after a moment when they finally reached the center. It was beautiful, there was a towering spire like the Hokage's tower and all around it were beautiful white flowers. Still there was a solemn air about the place, one that spoke of great tragedy. For some odd reason it also made his chest hurt, and his eyes prickled. He assumed it was just the mist though, there was no way he was going to start crying over ruins like a girl."You know, you never did say what this village's name was. Was it Namigakure no Sato?," he asked.

Tsunami smiled sadly and knelt down to start picking the flowers. "This land wasn't always Nami no Kuni," she said. "Once long ago, before the Third Shinobi War it was called Uzu no Kuni, and the village was called Uzushiogakure no Sato."

"The Village Hidden in the Eddies?" Naruto asked as he looked at the woman.

"Yes. You can't see them anymore, but when the ruling clan was here there used to be whirlpools all around the island that made it almost impossible for a naval force to attack it, but with the ruling clan slaughtered there is no one left to make them."

"So wait..they protected this land with whirlpools?"

"Well yes, doesn't Konoha have something like it?"

"I…I guess…I mean there's a forest," he said frowning. "A forest that the Shodaime made himself. And a Lake the Nidaime made too." He'd never really thought of it, but Konohagakure really did live up to its name.

"And Uzu had our whirlpools," she added smiling.

"Yeah," he said as he glanced over at the tower once more and then stopped. There on the side was a large spiral, a white one, like the one he wore on his left shoulder. "H-hey…do you know the name of the ruling clan?"

"Yes, they were quite numerous. It is said that it was from they that all ninjutsu came from. That the Sage of Six Paths himself was a descendant of their clan. The Origin, the Center of the Spiral, the Uzumaki."

"U-u-u-uzumaki?" he asked his eyes wide as dinner plates as he looked over at the towering spire. He had a clan? A Clan that used to be an ally of Konoha? "Y-you mean this was my home?"

"Well not your home Naruto-kun, but the home of your parents," she said to the boy with a soft smile. "Though I think you must take after your mother more than your father. It is said that Uzumaki have red hair and eyes the color of steel. They could have fled to Konoha after Uzu's fall."

"The Red Hot Habennero," Naruto said softly to himself. It had to be! That's why the Yondaime chose him! He was the son of the Yondaime's closest buddy, the Red Hot Habennero, the ANBU with red hair!

"The Red Hot who?" Tsunami asked looking at the boy in confusion.

"He was the Yondaime's right hand man. His personal ANBU Bodyguard. As strong as the Yondaime himself with long flowing red hair. They said that the two of them were an absolute menace to the bad guys in the Third Shinobi War. They say he died nine months before the Kyuubi attack," he added. It was so obvious! The Red Hot Habennero must have had a girlfriend, and she must have died giving birth. It was obvious now why the Yondaime trusted him to carry the burden. Of course he'd trust his best friend's son!

"Hey Tsunami-neechan can we check out the tower?" he asked as he looked over at his charge.

Tsunami gave him a smile. "Well you see, nobody can enter the tower."

"Wha? But why not?"

"They say that the Uzumaki put a seal on the doors, so that only their clansmen could open it. There are no Uzumaki left in Wave, so nobody has been able to enter the tower."

"Hey I'm an Uzumaki. We could go see the tower! There could be so many amazing things in there," he said to the woman. Things like scrolls of jutsu and weapons and histories. He'd heard of how Sasuke had a ton of scrolls from his dead clan, whole buildings and stuff.

"It's been a very long time Naruto-kun. There might be very little left in good condition."

"All the more important to go in there Tsunami-neechan. If we don't go now there might be nothing left dattebayo!" Naruto exclaimed. That would be a tragedy, if everything that his clan had done was forgotten. Plus he was dying to learn more, wanted to know what they'd done. He'd even be willing to sit and ugh….read for hours on end if he got to learn more about where he came from.

Tsunami smiled at the other male. "Well alright, it wouldn't hurt to look," she said to the boisterous boy as they began to make their way through the field of beautiful white flowers.

"hey hey, what are these flowers called?" Naruto asked curious about the feathery flowers they were walking through.

"Thousand-seals…or Nokogirisou, it's usually used to bind wounds, but it helps promote circulation. Hopefully it will help your sensei recover faster," she explained as they waded through the grass. "It's said to grow on the graves of the enlightened."

"But there aren't any graves here," Naruto said confused.

"This was the spot where the Uzumaki had their last stand. None of the civilians could come back to properly bury them during the war, and afterward…well there were no bodies to bury."

"Oh," Naruto said quietly as they moved along. He looked at the delicate feathery white flowers and wondered if he should gather some. They continued to walk through the field of flowers, Naruto noticing that they seemed to concentrate around the craters until they reached the doors to what Naruto had assumed was the Kage tower.

"This is as far as I go Naruto," Tsunami said as she halted at the base of the tower.

"What..why can't you go farther Tsunami-neesan?" he asked confused.

"It wouldn't be right. I'm not an Uzumaki, this tower is yours..and any secrets it holds should be your own. I'll wait right here and gather flowers while you explore inside. Your clones will keep me safe right?"

"Of course they will Dattebayo!" the blond said grinning at the woman before he looked over at the imposing doors. Did he want to go in alone? What if there were ghosts?

He shuddered before he steeled himself. Ghost or no Ghost, nobody was going to keep his clan's history from him! Squaring his shoulders the boy marched towards the door with all the determination of an all powerful Hokage. His hand reached out to the doorknob, face screwed up in concentration before he let out a yelp. "It Bit Me!"

He tried to tune out Tsunami's chuckle, and he was not pouting. The nasty door started to glow blue, like when someone was channeling chakra before it opened up. He looked back at Tsunami who gave him a reassuring smile before he turned forward again and stepped through the doorway.

The air was musty, and the floors were covered in dust. He didn't see much furniture in this room, but then again if this was like the Hokage tower, then this would be where the secretary met customers. Sure enough, there along the wall was a series of desks with crumbled scrolls. He tried to open one, but it crumble in his hands. Frowning he made his way deeper into the building, finding a pair of rickety stairs.

He was worried about ascending the stairs, so he had a clone ascend them first. The clone made it about halfway before it fell through the stairs, Naruto wincing and very glad he'd been smart enough to avoid that fate. "Guess I gotta be really careful," he mused as he ascended the stairs himself, sending a clone every few steps to make sure it was safe to ascend.

When he reached the second floor he made five clones. "Check this floor out, make sure it's safe and call me if you find anything cool."

"Sure thing Boss!" the clones said as they ran further into the room, one falling through the floor and dispelling. That at least made the other clones more careful, not wanting to end their existence the same way the first one had.

"Boss! I found an Armory!" one of his clones called ten minutes later, and Naruto grinned as he quickly, but carefully, made his way to the clone. He was glad all those stealth lessons taught him how to move without putting weight on anything, because otherwise he was sure he'd fallen through the floors several times.

Sure enough his clones had found a kick ass armory. There were weapons of all sorts, but there were several items missing. He could tell that some of the weapons had been taken out, probably used during the last stand.

"Boss there are storage scrolls here!" One of his clones said as he held up the storage scrolls triumphantly above his head.

"Awesome! Put these weapons in the scrolls dattebayo!" he said grinning widely. Now he had a kick ass armory of his own. Take that Sasuke! "I'm gonna go upstairs, maybe they have a jutsu library like the Third has," he said now clearly excited as he left the room. As he stepped out, his foot fell through the worn floorboards and he cried out.

"Boss!" his clones clamored out, grabbing him and pulling him out of his hole.

"I'm okay!" Naruto said, scowling. "Stupid floors," he muttered darkly as he continued down the hallway back to the stairs. None of his other clones had found anything so they had dispelled, now he was going to check out the third floor.

The third floor actually did have a library. It was massive! Naruto was standing in awe at the shelves and shelves of jutsu scrolls. "And they're all mine!" Naruto said grinning and rubbing his hands. Oh he was going to be awesome! All these jutsu! He was going to master all of them and become like the Sandaime, knowing a bajillion jutsu techniques. He wanted to do a happy dance, but he knew better. The clone that had showed him this place had jumped up and down in happiness…and then fell through three floors. This place was dangerous.

He had instructed his clones to put these in storage scrolls too. He wasn't going to have a lot of them left if there were more cool things farther up. The fourth floor had a lot of secretary desks and stuff. He had his clones scout through to see if any of the documents were legible, and to store them if they were. After all, he wanted to become Hokage, so if he could figure out everything here than it would make being Hokage so much easier.

He found the Uzukage's office on the fifth floor. He was pretty giddy when he saw it. The chair and desk was kind of like Hokage-jiji's and behind it the massive swirl symbol of Uzu dominated the space. It was so cool that he couldn't help but run over and jump into the chair. "So awesome!" he said sitting in the Uzukage's seat and looking out. He felt just like he always felt when he was in Jiji's seat back home. Awesome.

He leaned back and there was an ominous creak before the floor underneath the seat gave way. He clutched onto the armrest screaming bloody murder during his five floor descent.

-LU-

"Hey you hear something?" A clone asked as he was busy admiring a set of kunai before he sealed them away.

"S'just Boss falling through the floor again," another clone said shrugging as he tried to heft a zanbatou on his own. "Ugh…a little help?"

"Okay."

-LU-

Tsunami jumped as she heard a blood curdling scream from the tower. She paused in her picking to look at the building worriedly, but since the clones around her hadn't dispelled, she assumed that Naruto was fine.

-LU-

"Ugh…where am I?" Naruto wondered as he got out of the ruins of what was the Kage chair. He looked up at the big whole he'd opened up. "Well..now I got a skylight dattebayo!" he said as he assessed himself for injuries. Nothing broken. That was great, now he just had to figure out where he was. "I should've had my clones scout the first floor," he said with a pout before he summoned another group of clones. "Find me the exit guys."

He was picking splinters out of his track suit when one of his clones came running over. "Boss! I found a dead body boss! Can I poke it with a stick?"

"What!? No, we're not poking it with a stick. It could be an uncle of ours."

"Auntie Boss," the clone corrected.

"Then it's definitely no," he said glaring at his clone. "Take me to her," he said.

The clone nodded and led Naruto down the passageways. They passed several open and empty vaults before they entered what looked like a shrine area. Naruto's eyes followed the trail of blood stains to the body of a woman. She was wearing a beautiful, if rotted, kimono and the cause of her murder was simple. There was a knife in the woman's back.

Frowning, Naruto made his way closer to her. Now what would make her drag her dying body all the way here for? The trail of blood started outside of this room, so why hadn't she just died there? He looked up at the stone structure the woman had been reaching for. It was massive! Taking up the entire room. There were seals all over it, kind of like the seal on his belly, and also like storage seals and so many many more. There were also names all over the structure. It was a memorial stone! An Uzumaki Memorial Stone!

"Why was she trying to get to the stone?" he asked.

"I dunno Boss, I just went to get you when I found her."

"Well there are seals on it, maybe if I activate them like a storage scroll?" he mused as he put his hand on the structure and started to push his chakra into it. The stone glowed brightly and he couldn't pull his hand away. It started to suck him in and he vanished in a flash of light.

Inside the stone seal he learned many things. Things of the past, things of the present. Secrets kept from him. He learned all that his clan had ever learned. He saw all that his clan had ever saw.

He met his parents.

He befriended the Kyuubi.

He made peace with his dark counterpart.

He learned about the masked man.

He came up with a plan.

He summoned the shinigami.

He made a deal.

As the pain began to engulf him, as he felt himself being torn asunder, he felt no fear. He had done the right thing. And then…Oblivion.

-LU-

Tsunami sat straight up as the clones around her all poofed out of existence. Her gaze turned to the tower, worry filling her. "Naruto," she said softly before she stood up and ran to the door, banging on it. It wouldn't let her enter, oh ancestors she hoped she had not caused the poor boy's death.

-LU-

The Kodaibito no Ikan glowed blindingly before it spit out two unconscious boys before it darkened once more. It's work done.

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**Translations and explanations:**

**Alrighty folks, since my semi-beta onewealthyhobo asked that I included explanations for Naruto noobs, like the illustrious hobo-sama, then I shall do so.**

**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu- Shadow Clone Technique-this allows the user of the technique to create physical copies of themselves, also capable of utilizing ninjutsu. Physically fragile, the clones will dispel if dealt moderate damage. The clones also pass on their knowledge to their creator.**

**Konoha/Konohagakure no Sato- The Village Hidden in the Leaves. Naruto's hometown and one of the five strongest ninja villages. Situated in Hi no Kuni (Land of Fire) Konoha remains one of the wealthiest ninja strongholds on the planet.**

**Fuinjutsu- Sealing Technique- Fuinjutsu utilizes seals to create all manner of actions. Most commonly used to store objects and entities, Fuinjutsu is an esoteric ninja art with few practitioners of note. Those who have mastered Fuinjutsu are known to be extremely formidable opponents.**

**Shinigami-The Death God. The Shinigami is the one who ushers souls to the afterlife. It can be summoned using the most powerful sealing technique, but utilizing it usually costs the user their life.**

**Kyuubi no Yoko- The Nine-tailed demon fox, The Kyuubi no Yoko is the most powerful of all tailed beast. An entity of pure chakra, it is immortal and impossible to destroy, it can however be sealed. The Kyuubi no Yoko is known to attack where negative energy gathers.**

**Kirigakure no Sato- The Village Hidden in the Mists. Kirigakure no Sato is the weakest of the Five Great Ninja Villages, mainly due to the broiling civil war that it is currently under.**

**Kumogakure no Sato- The Village Hidden in the Clouds. The main contender against Konoha for the number one slot of the Five Great Ninja Villages, Kumogakure no Sato lacks Kekkei Genkai users and is therefore desperately any advantage it could get over Konoha.**

**Iwagakure no Sato- The Village Hidden in the Rock. Iwagakure no Sato was Konoha's primary rival in the Third Shinobi War, and was a contender for the number one slot in the Five Great Ninja Villages. Unfortunately the massive losses it sustained at the hands of the Yondaime Hokage has greatly weakened Iwagakure's power.**

**Kusagakure no Sato- The Village Hidden in the Grass-Once a worldwide power house. Kusagakure no Sato suffered extremely heavy damage from demonic incursions and civil war, causing the once powerful ninja force to collapse. Even now, Kusagakure is but a mere shadow of its former glory.**

**Sunagakure no Sato- The Village Hidden in the Sand-Formerly an enemy of Konoha, it is now an ally thanks in part to the Yondaime Hokage. Sunagakure no Sato specializes in traps and poisons, a useful tactic considering their home is a desert.**

**Nami no Kuni- Land of Waves- Nami no Kuni is suffering under heavy poverty, their ports and companies bought by Gato who is using them for his black market dealings. Gato is slowly bleeding the economy of Nami no Kuni and is currently ruling the country as a dictator.**

**Uzu no Kuni- Land of Whirlpools- Uzu no Kuni was destroyed in the early days of the Third Shinobi War, its military forces scattered to the four winds and it's ruling clan, the Uzumaki, slaughtered and splintered. It was renamed Nami no Kuni because its once iconic Whirlpools vanished with the destruction of their noble caste.**

**Uzushiogakure no Sato- The Village Hidden in the Whirling Tides- A once powerful ninja village, and prominent ally of Konoha, Uzushiogakure was destroyed when several ninja villages invaded. The ruling clan, the Uzumaki, sacrificed themselves in order to buy their subjects time to escape.**

**Red Hot Habennero- The nickname for Uzumaki Kushina, mother of Uzumaki Naruto. As Anbu commander of the Third Shinobi War, Uzumaki Kushina did not use her own name and was therefore known as her moniker. In an attempt to prevent anyone from realizing Naruto's parentage, her identity was sealed and her photos doctored to make her appear as an androgynous male.**

**Nokogirisou- Thousand Seal, Soldier's Wound wort, Devil's Nettle. Known to grow on the grave of the Sage of Six Paths. It intensifies the other medicinal herbs that are taken with it and is known to help eliminate toxins in the body.**

**Dattebayo- Uzumaki Naruto's verbal tick. It has no meaning.**

**Jutsu- Ninja Techniques that include hand to hand, weapon mastery, throwing mastery, elemental mastery, sealing mastery, and several other abilities.**

**Kodaibito no Ikan-Seal of the Ancients- A seal utilized to seal Chakra Ghosts in the Uzumaki Memorial Stone.  
**

* * *

**So thoughts?**


	3. Chapter 2: The Clan Head

**Alas poor fandom, I own you not.**

**I thank everyone who asked for more, but please moar plzes only make me want to avoid updating. They kill my muses because it makes it an obligation. Tell me what you like, what you don't like. Discuss things with me people, it'll make me excited to write more. Not that I'm throwing a hissy fit at those who want updates, but I'd like some constructive criticism. Flames though I'll burn.**

**Lord of Uzu Chapter 2: The Clan Head**

Uzumaki Arashi groaned as he sat up. He remembered that he was training with Jinguu-hanshi, not that he could train his body, but he was learning the sword forms from his honored ancestor, when he was grabbed by some blond boy and pulled out of the seal. He was out of the seal! He felt so weak though, and he knew why. He hadn't used his own muscles in years, not since Go-Sakuramachi-basan sealed him within the array to learn from his ancestors.

His muscles were so weak, it had taken almost all of his strength just to sit up. In fact, he had to enhance his muscles with chakra to do much of anything, and for once he was happy that he had such good control. Suspiciously he looked around. The floor was covered in dust, and there two feet away….Kami-sama. It was Go-Sakuramachi-basan. She was murdered! That was why she never came back for him! He was going to kill that blond bast…oh it looked like she had been dead a long time.

He heard another groan and his eyes locked onto the blond boy that was sprawled on the ground. Who was he? He couldn't be an Uzumaki, his hair was all wrong. But if he wasn't an Uzumaki how on earth had he gotten into the Kodaibito no Ikan? "Who are you? What are you doing here?"

"Ugh..quiet, my head hurts," the blond said rubbing his head before he blinked and looked at Arashi. "You! What are you doing here!"

"I asked first Dattemeijiru!"

"Shut up I was here first Dattebayo!"

The two boys with similar faces blinked before pointing at each other. "WHAT THE HELL!" the two boys shouted in unison.

"YOU LOOK LIKE A-" "SKINNY" "FAT" "-ME!"

Arashi glowered, crossing his arms as he looked at the rude pallet changed doppelganger. "I am not Skinny my muscles are just atrophied!"

"And I'm not fat, my track suit's just big!" Naruto defended crossing his arms and scowling at the other boy. Both boys shooting identical looks at one another. "I bet you're just an illusion! Kai!" Naruto said expelling his chakra, but nothing changed. Naruto scowled even more and picked up a piece of wood. "Kage bunshin?" he wondered and threw the wood at the other male's head.

"Oww that hurt you bastard!" Arashi declared rubbing his head. Oh if he could get up he'd pound that annoying blond to the ground Dattemeijiru! "Wait that headband. You're a konoha-nin."

"Well yeah," Naruto said. Where was this kid going with this?

Uzumaki Arashi had scrunched up his face with his arms crossed, thinking very hard. This boy was a konoha ninja, he had entered the Kodaibito no Ikan. Therefore, this boy was an Uzumaki from Konoha, because only an Uzumaki could enter the Kodaibito no Ikan. But there had been only one Uzumaki from Konoha that he knew of..that meant…could it be? "What's your birthday?"

"Why?"

"Just answer Dattemeijiru!"

"It's October 10," Naruto said scowling. "Why is it important?"

The boy's birthday was October 10, he was an Uzumaki from Konoha. He had a similar face. And his coloring was just like…wow..small world. Arashi smirked as he looked at the other male. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you otouto."

"Eh!?"

Arashi flung up his hands exasperated. Didn't the other male follow the same thought process..oh wait, he hadn't told the other boy anything, or introduced himself. "My name is Uzumaki Arashi, I was born on October 10, my mother and father were ninja from Konoha."

Naruto frowned as he looked at the other boy. "Okay…I'm Uzumaki Naruto. And why are you the older brother? I'm bigger than you. And why are you here?"

"Well first off I was sent here by haha-ue and chichi-ue right after I was born so that I could be raised by my aunt…well cousin I guess," he said. "She was going to raise me to be the next Daimyo of Uzu. She was going to restart Uzu no Kuni when I turned ten and be my regent until I was powerful enough to take over. And Secondly, only the older sibling could be the Daimyo of Uzu, so that means I was born first!"

"Oh yeah? So where is your regent huh?" Naruto asked looking suspiciously at the other male. Yeah like he could believe the boy's story, he could be working for Gatou or something.

"Right there," the redhead said pointing to the dead body not two feet away from them. His eyes were not burning, he was not going to cry. "She didn't even have her headband," he said despondently.

"Why is that important?"

The redhead shot the blond a scandalous look before frowning. Did the other Uzumaki know nothing of his heritage? Shouldn't the boy have been given to Senju Tsunade, the granddaughter of Uzumaki Mito and therefore the only person in the village capable of teaching him the Uzumaki clan arts? What the hell was going on in Konoha. "The Uzu headband had many special properties," he explained to his brother. "One of which is if an Uzumaki fell in battle, their chakra ghost would be sealed into the Kodaibito no Ikan."

"Ghosts!?"

"Not Ghost Ghosts…Chakra Ghosts. Just a small part of them kept within a seal. They're not see through or anything."

"Well why would they be put into this Kodabitonokan?"

Arashi rubbed his temples. "Ko-Da-I-Bi-To No I-Ka-N. The Seal of the Ancients. It allows the descendants of the Uzumaki to learn from those long since past. It was why I was in the seal," he said to the other boy. "So I could learn history from people who were actually part of it."

"Oh so it's like listening to Hokage-jiji tell stories about the Shinobi Wars," Naruto said nodding. That sounded pretty cool, heck listening to Hokage-jiji talk about the battles he was in during the wars was the only reason Naruto passed the history portion of the exam.

"Not just that but you could learn their skills too," Arashi added.

"Really..so you could use it for training?" Naruto asked looking at the large seal in a new light. "But then why are you so skinny?"

"I am not Skinny!" Arashi shouted huffing. "My muscles atrophied, because you can only train your mind when you're in the seal. Your body gets stuck in stasis until your done. Go-Sakuramachi-basan was supposed to get me out, but she never did."

"Well whatever. Come on let's get out of here, do you want to bring your obasan out so we can bury her?" Naruto asked as he got up, dusting off his pants.

"No you can't…well not if you can carry both of us at the same time."

"And why would I have to carry you?"

"Because my muscles are atrophied!"

"I don't even know what that means! You're just being lazy Dattebayo!"

"It means I can't move my limbs without enhancing my muscles with Chakra. It means I can't walk! So pick me up Dattemeijiru!"

"Oh," Naruto said blinking before heading over to his..twin? and picking up the other male piggy-back style. He hefted the smaller male into place, feeling the very skinny arms wrap around his neck. "You sure you want me to leave your obasan here?" he asked looking over at the dead body.

"You can't carry both of us at the same time." Arashi said softly.

"But I can! Kage bunshin no jutsu!" Naruto said, putting his hands into his favorite seal and creating a trio of clones. "You guys carry the obasan," he said to the clones, who were making faces and gingerly touching the corpse as they tried to pick it up without touching it.

"Show respect! She's OUR obasan," Arashi ordered. "You turn into a henge of a stretcher," he said pointing at the middle clone, who blanched but did as he was told. The other clones loaded the dead body onto the stretcher before picking it up.

"Okay…so which way is out?" Naruto said as he walked out of the room.

"You mean you don't even know where you are?"

"No I don't, I fell through the roof," he told the other boy. "Five floors I fell! The only reason why I didn't die was because I'm awesome Dattebayo."

"If you say so Naruto, If you say so."

"Hey!"

**-LU**-

Tsunami had been pacing back and forth in front of the doors for the last two hours. She was worried sick, worried that she had caused the death of the only heir to the Uzumaki clan. Kami what did that make her? Was she a murderer? How could she have let the boy go in there alone! She didn't want to go back home and tell the boy's teacher that she had killed him, she didn't want that silver haired man to kill her and her entire family, or who knows what else he'd do in retribution.

So frantic was she that she didn't notice the doors opening, it wasn't until she heard Naruto's brash voice declaring how awesome his team was that she realized the boy was okay.

"And then there's Tsunami-neechan. She makes the best onigiri I've ever tasted. It's not as good as Ramen though. You really have to try Ichiraku's when we get to Konoha Arashi-nii. It's the best." Naruto boisterously said as he carried his…sibling? through the threshold and was almost barreled over by an anxious Tsunami.

"Naruto! I was so worried. All your clones vanished," she said to the youth as she held him close. Then she noticed his passenger and stepped back, blushing only slightly at her unseemly display. "And who is this?"

"Oh this is Arashi-nii. My brother I guess. Can you believe it? He was stuck in a seal the whole time!" Naruto said grinning impishly at her. Arashi on the other hand shook his head and bonked his little brother. "Don't forget, we have something important to do," the redhead said.

Now that Tsunami could see the two boys, she could clearly see that they were brothers, twins in fact. They had the exact same face, though Arashi had his father's coloring and Naruto obviously had his mother's. What did that mean? Was it a sign? Who could have thought that taking Naruto to this place would uncover a long lost sibling. The redhead was pale and gaunt though, obviously lacking in nutrition. He was in a seal? Was it another bit of ninja magic that had kept him alive all this time? And what was the important thing they had to do?

"Oh yeah," Naruto said, the first time Tsunami had ever seen the boy appear somber as a duo of his clones walked out of the tower, carring a stretcher in between them, and in the stretcher was a body covered in a white sheet. "Do you know where the graveyard is Arashi-nii?"

"I do," the redhead replied and started to give Naruto instructions as to where to go. After a moment's hesitation, Tsunami scooped up her basket of flowers and followed the two somber boys. She wondered what revelations had Naruto uncovered while he had been in the tower, and who was it that was under the blanket.

They traversed the broken village, crossing over a heavily damaged bridge to reach an out of the way cemetery that was centered around a very large, and horribly damaged tree. Arashi seemed to wilt a little as he looked at the remains of his clan's once proud graveyard. "Naruto, could you put her over there by the tree?" he asked.

The blond nodded and his clones moved to position the dead body in front of the tree, the two clones and stretcher dispelling themselves once their somber duty was done.

"Could you put me down on the ground beside her?" Arashi asked softly, and Naruto made his way over to the corpse, letting his sibling down onto the ground before retreating to a respectful distance. Arashi held his breath for a moment before he formed the rat seal. "Doton: Ganban Kyuu" he intoned softly. The earth rumbled under the body of his aunt, stone segments rising in the form of a stone coffin and sealing her within. His hands flew through another set of seals before he palmed the stone coffin. "Fuin!" he called as the trademark Uzumaki seal spread over the coffin. It glowed for a second before it was replaced with a statue of the woman in her prime. Her proud aristocratic features set in a determined scowl as her hand rested on the hilt of her katana, her long flowing hair swaying in an unseen breeze. The base of the statue read: Go-Sakuramachi, Fourth Daimyo of Uzu no Kuni.

His task complete, the boy sat back and the tears began to flow. He bowed before the figure of his aunt. She had been a very stern woman, all thoughts focused on the cause of resurrecting the village. Arashi might not have gotten as much love from the woman as he needed, but he certainly mourned her passing. She had been the closest thing he had had to a mother outside of the seal, and now she was gone. He was alone, now the only Uzumaki left free to restart their homeland, and now he had an otoutou to watch over as well. He hoped he was strong enough, strong enough to fulfill his guardian's dreams, and definitely strong enough to make sure that Naruto could live his own dreams as well.

Naruto watched his twin, brother, sibling….related person, and felt very awkward. He didn't know the woman that they had buried, so he didn't have any attachment to her, but seeing the redhead so torn up about it made him feel like he was intruding on a private moment. He wanted to leave the area, to give Arashi the privacy he needed so the boy could let go of his composure and cry as much as he wanted, but Arashi couldn't even walk so Naruto couldn't get out of shouting distance. He honestly didn't know what to do, didn't know what to say. It wasn't like with Sakura, where asking her out on a date would be enough to make her snap out her Sasuke-induced depressions.

"Naruto," Tsunami said softly as she handed Naruto a handful of the flowers that she'd picked for Kakashi. Naruto looked up at the woman and smiled a little bit, accepting the flowers. Quietly he moved over to his grieving brother and put the handful of flowers onto the grave marker.

"Come on Arashi-nii we have to go," he said to the other boy.

Arashi took a moment to wipe his eyes before he nodded. "Thank you for everything Go-Sakuramachi-basan. I promise that Uzu will rise again," he said to the statue as he let Naruto pick him up.

**-LU-**

"Ne, Nii-san how are you going to make Uzu rise again?" Naruto asked as they walked back towards Tsunami-neechan's house. He was curious, how do you start a country again? Would this make him a prince? Would it mean that he couldn't become Hokage?

"First, I'll need to gather my own strength," Arashi said with a chuckle as Naruto carried him. "That'll take me a few weeks. Then after that, I'm going to have to find my advisors. They should be running the country in my stead at the moment."

"But…Gatou runs the country right now," Naruto said perplexed.

"Gatou?" he said looking at his brother confused, before he looked over at Tsunami, the local and the only subject of his who knew of the return of the Uzumaki. "Why would Gatou be in charge? He was just the treasurer. The Shikifukujin are the members of the advisory board that Go-Sakuramachi-basan created."

"The Shikifukujin were arrested shortly before Gatou assumed control of Wave. Gatou then installed one of his men as the Daimyo of Nami, though everyone knows that he is just a puppet." Tsunami explained to the redhead.

"Do you know where they are being held?" Arashi asked, but Tsunami shook her head. "Then I need to regain my strength…look for the ninja clans and enlist their aid in finding and breaking out the Shikifukujin before we move to retake the capital." It hurt Arashi to say it, but it was looking more and more likely that he would have to lead his people in a civil war against Gatou.

"Hey my team can help!" Naruto declared. He wasn't going to let his brother fight Gatou to retake their homeland on his own. He was going to help!

"Yes you'll need Naruto's help Arashi. Gatou himself has hired a dangerous missing nin, and if he were to discover that you were alive, he would send that man to kill you." Tsunami added.

Arashi winced as he thought about that. So Gatou had surrounded himself with nuke-nin, probably an army of mercenaries and who knows what else. Where on earth had Gatou amassed such a fortune…oh no. So that's why Go-Sakuramachi-basan was killed. Gatou had been inside the Uzu tower, he had killed her and probably made off with the Uzumaki fortune. "Well then I think the first step is for me and your Jounin sensei to have a little talk," Arashi said to his sibling.

"Awesome! Don't worry Arashi-nii. Kakashi-sensei will help us take back Uzu. I swear it Dattebayo!" the energetic blond said, jostling Arashi just a little in his exuberance.

"Naruto watch it! If I fall and crack my head then there'll be nobody for Kakashi to help! Be more careful Dattemeijiru!"

"Sorry Arashi-nii!"

-**LU-**

**Dattemeijiru- Means nothing, though the individual parts could roughly translate to, Because I Command It.**

**Doton: Ganban Kyuu-Earth Release: Bedrock Coffin- A mid to long range attack, the user surrounds the opponent with stone before crushing them between two large slabs.**

**Shikifukujin-Seven Lucky Gods-A team of powerful fighters and specialists enlisted by Go-Sakuramachi as a board of advisors to aid her in recreating Uzu no Kuni. They are currently imprisoned by Gatou after his coup.**

**-LU-**

**So..thoughts?**


	4. Chapter 3: Concerns

**Alas poor fandom, I own you not.**

**So some of you have noticed the discrepancies between the end of Chapter 1 and the start of Chapter 2. Sorry guys but you'll just have to be patient. The end of Chapter 1 is vital to the plot and might not be fully explained in this story arch, it might get explained in the second one.**

**Sorry for the delay. We haven't had internet at the house for the last 14 days. My family has a 10 GB internet data plan and we used up 9 GB, so we turned off the internet for two weeks until it renewed on the twelfth.**

**Chapter 3: Concerns**

Hatake Kakashi was a man who many people thought that he spent all of his time reminiscing about the past. They couldn't be more wrong. Hatake Kakashi was a man who would do his duty, no matter the hardship. He'd spent years as the ANBU Inu and during that time period he had watched over his young charge. He had been the one to teach the young boy the basics of his clan's lost taijutsu styles. He had been the one to teach the boy how to set traps. He was the one responsible for the Fourth's Legacy's prowess in the stealth arts. He was also the one who had failed to protect the Fourth's Legacy. He had been forced to watch, horrified, as his charge's skills began to degrade at a rapid pace, the cause of which neither he nor the Hokage could discover.

Kakashi leaned against his crutches as he examined the sleeping figures on the futon. The two 'brothers' were sleeping fairly close together, Naruto protectively curled around his older, but weaker, brother. Kakashi had sent a missive to the Hokage detailing the unexpected arrival of the redheaded boy, had persuaded the boy to provide a blood sample that he had given to Pakkun to take to the Hokage.

There were just so many inconsistencies when it came to the redheaded boy. He had been the Fourth's student, so he had known exactly how many children Kushina was bearing, and that number had been one not two. He lifted up his headband so that he could examine the boy with his sharingan, and what he saw was just as puzzling. The boy's chakra signature was similar to Naruto's, similar enough to be close family, but that was impossible.

Regardless, he had agreed to help Uzumaki Arashi provided that the blood work proved the boy's claim. The resurrection of Uzu no Kuni had been one of Kushina's goals when Minato-sensei had taken up the office of Hokage. Helping her supposed son accomplish this was the least that he could do. Not only that, but Konoha owed it to Uzu to offer its aid. Konoha had been so focused on fighting Suna that the only way Konoha had learned of Uzu's fall had been when the Uzumaki civilians had been massacred on Hi no Kuni's shores.

He closed his sharingan eye and hid it under his headband once more, thoughts churning in his head. Luckily, Sasuke and Sakura had been far too focused on his awakening to be curious about the late arrival of their teammate, or the new addition to the house. He was a little disappointed, he knew that Naruto would have picked it up right off the bat. How would his two students take to the new addition, or the fact that their mission parameters were going to change again. This disastrous clusterfuck of a mission had moved well beyond the assumed B rank he had thought earlier. After Zabuza, and now Arashi, the ranking of the mission had reached upper A rank or at the very most lower S rank. Oh well nothing to worry about until he got a response from the Hokage. The least he could do was finish up the chapter of Icha Icha he was reading, it was getting rather juicy after all.

The blond genin stirred, making Kakashi still for a moment. Bleary blue eyes opened, focusing on him for just a moment. "Inu?" Naruto asked sleepily before he closed his eyes and fell back to sleep, safe in the knowledge that his protector was there.

Kakashi's eye widened as he heard the moniker. Naruto recognized him? Naruto hadn't recognized his ANBU guardian since the deterioration reached its highest point two years into the Academy. Was his pup coming back to him? More importantly, did Naruto's contact with the Kodaibito no Ikan stir memories thought lost? Shaking his head, Kakashi decided to stick with his plans. He was going to finish chapter 10 of Icha Icha Paradise. Reading porn was simpler than trying to puzzle out what exactly was going on with Naruto.

**-LU-**

Sarutobi Hiruzen looked over the missive that Hatake Kakashi had sent him via Pakkun. It was short and woefully lacking in details. Typical of the lazy ninja really. It read: _Inu to Kage. Momochi Zabuza after client. Suffered Chakra Exhaustion. Naruto discovered Uzushiogakure. Made Contact with Kodaibito no Ikan. Returned with possible sibling. Attached Blood Sample. Uzumaki Arashi requests aid to retake Uzu. Orders?_

Honestly, Hiruzen was getting way too old to be dealing with Minato's surviving student. Sure the information was there, but he was lacking context. Why was Momochi Zabuza trying to kill a bridge builder. Did the two of them battle hard enough to cause Kakashi to exhaust his chakra? Who had shown Naruto Uzushiogakure? What was the purpose of the Kodaibito no Ikan? Who was this unknown sibling? How did that person come to into contact with Naruto? Why would they need to retake Uzu no Kuni?

He lit his pipe with a weak katon justsu as he leaned back to ponder these many many questions. The request to retake Uzu had to tie in with the reason why Momochi Zabuza would be after a bridge builder. A bridge builder could build something to make crossing into Hi no Kuni easier, and that could topple a stranglehold of a blockade on an island nation. This would of course mean that there was some sort of dictator currently running Nami no Kuni, and thereby this person was also hiring ninja to take out anyone that could threaten his or her hold.

Momochi Zabuza was one of the Seven Swordsmen of the mist, and with Hatake Kakashi's stagnating skills, he could easily see the two of them fighting to a bitter draw. Though now that both had sampled each other's fighting skills, it would mean that their next confrontation would be fatal. Momochi Zabuza was also a nuke-nin, who was on the run for betraying the crazed Yondaime Mizukage. The swordsman's actions had caused the stirring of a rebellion currently led by Terumi Mei. Fighting had yet to break out, but with Yagura's actions it was only a matter of time.

The Kodaibito no Ikan and the mystery of Uzumaki Arashi were another matter entirely. He knew that Minato and Kushina had only one child, his departed wife Biwako had been the one to monitor Kushina's pregnancy and kept him informed of all developments. After all something as disastrous as a miscarriage could have massive repercussions when the mother was a Jinchuuriki. He was still going to have the boy's blood tested. Although, there was a chance that Biwako had not informed him of there being twins. Uzumakis did have a tendency to birth multiple children, even if that hadn't been the case with Uzumaki Mito. They could have kept the information secret for fear of someone killing Kushina to prevent the Uzumaki clan from thriving once more.

If the boy was an Uzumaki than there was only one thing to be done. Hiruzen himself would have to speak with the boy. He had to sound out the boy's feelings for Konoha, after all it had been Konoha who had so monumentally failed their stalwart allies. Even worse, during the Third Shinobi War, Hiruzen had failed to keep the Konoha Uzumakis from charging the enemy lines, or that horribly disastrous series of missions when the Uzumakis tried to retake their clan relics or die trying.

He frowned as he ran a hand over the Orb of Sight. The object rightfully belonged to Naruto, being the only Uzumaki relic to have been recovered from enemy lines. He remembered that day. Of the over two hundred Konoha Uzumakis who had assaulted the various villages that had attacked Uzu, only two had returned. Uzumaki Hana and her son Akimichi Chouza had returned bloody and barely hanging onto their lives. The pureblooded Uzumaki expiring at the hospital days later. Despite all that, they had succeeded in retrieving one of the many relics that had been stolen from them. Chouza had then given the orb to Kushina, being the last pureblooded Uzumaki left in Konoha.

Many of the other Uzumaki relics were scattered throughout the hidden villages. Kumo had taken the relics of the Sage of Six Paths, taken from the corpse of the Uzumaki Clan Leader himself. Kiri had taken blades from Uzu's seven swordsmen. Iwa had the Orb of Sight and the varying minor villages took whatever powerful seals or weapons they could find.

Konoha, much to Hiruzen's shame, had lost the Raijin, the sword that the Uzumaki Clan Leader created just for the Niidaime. Though the Uzumaki Shrine that kept the legendary masks that had inspired the ANBU was still safe and secure. Too much had been lost. The wizened Hokage pressed his intercom button, connecting with his secretary. "Fetch Yamanaka Inoichi, Akimichi Chouza, Nara Shikaku, Tenzou, and the Yondaime's Guard."

The Ino-Shika-Chou trio he was summoning for varying reasons. Inoichi he would need to mindwalk Arashi's mind to ascertain the stability of the boy's psyche. Akimichi Chouza for the simple fact that aside from Naruto, he was the only one with enough Uzumaki blood to access Uzumaki blood seals. Nara Shikaku for the need for sound strategy if they had to covertly aid a dead political entity. Tenzou he called because the Shodaime treatments gave him enough Senju blood to help Chouza in certain areas and just in case Naruto had an incident during the retaking of Uzu. The Yondaime Guard for the Hiraishin. It was a little presumptuous to gather them before the blood test returned, but he had a feeling that the boy was who he said he was. Besides, this was an excellent excuse to get out from behind his desk. Any excuse not to deal with paperwork was a good one in his eyes.

**-LU-**

Sasuke was sitting at the breakfast table, eating his rice calmly. Hopefully with Kakashi awake, the lazy ninja could finally get around to training him. He needed to get stronger, strong enough to kill Itachi and the Cyclops was holding him back. He also wanted to grill his sensei on how he got that Sharingan. It was obviously an implant, which means Kakashi either stole it, or it had been given to him. Sasuke honestly doubted that anyone would have given an outsider a sharingan, but the man had one and maybe he could help Sasuke unlock his own.

Sakura was blathering on like she always did, he tried to pay her little attention. So far the girl had been utterly useless. She hadn't even been able to do much of anything during his battle with Zabuza's clone. It still irked him that he had to resort to getting help from the dead last of the academy in order to beat a measly mizu-bunshin. If he had his sharingan he was sure he'd be able to crush the clone easily.

He looked up as Naruto came in carrying one of his stupid dead bunshins. It was really horrible, this time the idiot hadn't even gotten the eye or hair color right. Seriously how on earth did this loser even pass the test? Oh wait he didn't. So how on earth had the Sandaime considered him good enough to get a headband?

"Naruto! What are you doing! Your clone doesn't need to eat!" The harpy shouted, shrill and annoying in his ear.

"I am" "He's" "not a clone!" the two nearly identical boys shouted at the harpy. The redhead looked far more irked than the dobe.

"Yeah right, I bet you're just so desperate for friends that you just made one up using one of your shadow clones," Sakura said to the other genin. "Isn't that right Sasuke?"

Why oh why did she always have to look to him for approval. He wanted no part in her inane chatter, or the senseless bickering between the two. Sure it was slightly entertaining, but it was beneath an Uchiha to deal with people who were either useless, Sakura, or losers, Naruto. So he gave her a dignified response of "hn."

The redheaded idiot looked at him with a calculating eye. "An Uchiha," the redhead said and then dismissed Sasuke to try to gather his own breakfast. That irked Sasuke a little, nobody dismissed an Uchiha. Though his restraint rewarded him as the blond idiot tried to spoon feed his clone. The two idiots squabbled with the redhead stubbornly saying that he was just weakened not disabled and he could feed himself thank you very much. Sasuke was amused enough to grant himself a smirk at the situation.

"Greetings my little ducklings," their lazy teacher said as he hobbled into the room. Sasuke shot the lazy man a glare. Before he would have deemed Kakashi to be incompetent and ignored him utterly, but his fight with Zabuza proved him to be otherwise. "And guest," Kakashi amended as he eye smiled at the redhead.

"Kakashi-sensei you shouldn't indulge in Naruto's juvenile behavior," Sakura said. "It's unbecoming of a shinobi to misuse jutsu for such pathetic things."

Snap. Sasuke blinked before he noticed that the redheaded idiot had snapped his chopsticks, the boy was obviously fuming. Odd, this was not typical behavior of Naruto. Considering what he knew of Naruto's bunshin, they usually had the same pathetic personality as the blond. The fact that the redhead was angry, yet not going for Sakura's throat, though he admitted that it might be because Naruto had a crush on the useless baggage, might add credence to the possibility that this was a person and not a jutsu. If that was the case, then who was this person?

"Maa maa. It's so uncute of you to say such things to Naruto, Sakura-chan." Kakashi said.

"Indeed," the redhead said tersely glaring at the pink haired girl. "One would think that a konoha ninja would be capable of showing tact. Especially in regards to a potential client and a member of a royal house." Well that confirmed it for Sasuke. He didn't think that Naruto even knew what the word tact, or potential, even meant and would be less likely to use them in a sentence. Either Naruto had found a way to make clones smarter than himself, or this was a different person altogether.

"Right, anyway Team 7 this is Uzumaki Arashi, Naruto's little brother."

"Older, I'm the Older brother Hatake-san," the redhead, Aarashi, corrected the jounin instructor. "And so far I'm unimpressed with your genin team. Naruto is undertrained for his status, though whoever did train him managed to teach him the basics," the boy continued ignoring Naruto's shout of Hey! "the Haruno obviously has underdeveloped muscles. She's too weak to have been capable of mastering her Kekkei Genkai," wait Sakura had a kekkei genkai? "in fact, the only one that seems up to par is the Uchiha. I sincerely hope that Hokage-sama sends a squad of them to help me retake Uzu."

Sasuke was tense, sure the male had given him a compliment, but to bring up his dead clan like that. Didn't he know what that man had done?

"I'm very sorry Uzumaki-san, but Sasuke-kun is the only Uchiha left," Kakashi said, if a bit tersely himself. Probably unhappy that someone had pointed out the obvious weaknesses in his team. This seemed to distress the redhead quite a bit. Why would he be distressed by it? Didn't he know? Sasuke was sure that everyone in the Elemental Countries knew about the fall of one of the greatest ninja clans.

"And the Akimichi, Aburame, and Hyuuga? Are they fine? Did something bad happen to them as well?" the redhead asked hurriedly. What connection did the Akimichi, Aburame and Hyuuga have with the Uchiha? Sure they where the other three noble clans, but that was about it.

"The other three noble clans are doing quite well. Though the head of the branch family of the Hyuuga has yet to make chuunin, the Aburame hives are at 56% of their former capacity, and the Akimichi are doing very well."

"Sensei you shouldn't be telling him about Konoha's forces!" Sakura screech glaring at their sensei again. The redhead shot her another glare.

"It is my right to know how they are doing. As clan head of the Uzumaki clan," Naruto had a clan? "It is my right to be informed of the status of my branch families." The boy said imperiously. Sasuke stiffened. The mighty Uchiha clan was a branch family of the Uzumaki? The idiot was above him socially? That…That couldn't be. How…what?

"Impossible," Sasuke said looking aghast at the idea that the idiot could be above him. He would not take orders from a fool. Though there was some comfort that the redhead was the clan leader and not the dobe. "The dobe is just an orphaned loser. There is no way that the Uchiha clan could be dictated to by a bunch of idiots."

"Bastard!" Naruto yelled as he leapt across the table. The idiot would try to give him a beating but Sasuke was sure he could take down the fool and prove his clan's superiority once more. That was until a dark slate blue chain wrapped around Naruto's middle and pulled him back into his seat.

"Settle down Dattemeijiru! it's obvious that the Uchiha have forgotten their roots. Ignore him, we have better things to do," the boy panted, it was obvious that it was a tremendous strain to manifest the dark slate blue chains that bound Naruto.

Sasuke's eyes flicked to Kakashi and he saw that the jounin's eye was wide with shock. Apparently this was not something he had known the boy to do, was it a kekkai genkai? It was coming from the redhead's palm, which was really odd. Sasuke quickly looked to the redhead, he wanted this power. It would give him an edge against Itachi and it could be performed without seals. "Teach me that," he demanded.

The redhead laughed as he was ordered what to do. "And why would I teach someone as disrespectful as you an Uzumaki clan technique? Besides didn't you say that the Uchiha were superior? Why would you want to learn a technique from a clan of idiots hmm?"

"Indeed. Clan secrets are a private affair. It would be best if you do not push the issue Sasuke-kun," a wizened old voice said from the doorway. The four preteens turning to look at the person in the doorway. It was the Sandaime Hokage!

**-LU-**

**So what did you guys think?**


	5. Chapter 4: When Two Lords Meet

**Alas poor fandom, I own you not.**

**As I have stated in my other fic, there have been numerous reasons why I haven't been writing. The current one is we're currently renovating parts of the house. Mostly putting down new flooring and painting, but I have to tell you I didn't realize how many cabinets and stuff we had until I had to help my dad move them all. Ugh! I've started writing this chapter because Mom isn't letting me help her paint the walls, so yay! Free time!**

**Also I discovered that I can't write well when I'm sick. Just tried, had to delete almost three hundred words because they were absolutely horrible!**

**Chapter 4: When Two Lords Meet**

"Hokage-jiji!" Naruto cried out with a grin as he got up and ran over to give his pseudo-grandfather a hug, an action which flabbergasted Sakura, Sasuke, and his brother Arashi. Kakashi-sensei only looked bemused as the Hokage's regal air was disrupted by being glomped by an orange monkey.

"Ah Naruto-kun," Hiruzen said patting the boy's back.

"What are you doing here Jiji?" Naruto asked looking up at his beloved grandfather.

"Well I am here to meet with your brother. It's not every day that you rediscover long lost royalty," he answered honestly. This of course made Naruto frown and Hiruzen knew that the boy wanted to ask him a plethora of questions, most of which would be highly uncomfortable for the aged Hokage to answer.

"But jiji-"

"We'll have a talk later Naruto. Your brother being here changes a lot of things. Many things you were meant to learn later," he explained.

"You mean like the"

"Yes, like that one," he elaborated. "Though I've heard wonderful things about your first C-rank. You helped drive away an A-rank ninja. I'm impressed Naruto," he said with a proud smile as Naruto grinned up at him. "Now Kakashi, why don't you take your team out for some training while I have a discussion with Arashi-kun."

Kakashi took the hint and managed to get his Genin team out of the way, Naruto hesitating before a nod from Arashi had the blond boy following his teammates. "I'm sorry for imposing this on you, Tazuna-san. But could you give Arashi-kun and myself some privacy. My ANBU guard will make sure your family stays safe," and with that the old bridgebuilder, who Hiruzen secretly wanted to strangle for endangering Naruto, left the room taking his family with him. Now both he and Arashi were alone.

"So," Arashi started, hands folded in front of him. The boy was a mystery to Hiruzen, he could tell from the boy's use of chakra chains that the child was already a master of the sealing arts, another mark of him being a true Uzumaki. Already Hiruzen could catalog the similarities to his successor, the way that the youth calmly sat, patient but wary. Yet the boy still had his mother's fiery hair, and if what he heard was correct, a verbal tick as well.

Hiruzen studied the boy a moment more before he joined the youth at the table. "I have come here with a great many questions Arashi-kun."

"And you brought a Yamanaka to get the answers right?" Arashi asked with a beginning of a smile on his face.

"Well yes, and an Akimichi, both of whom you shall meet later. I am curious as to your current condition," because Hiruzen was no fool. The boy's muscles were atrophied, the child should be in a bed somewhere, not moving about. He would guess that the youth had phenomenal chakra control in order to force his muscles to move, and a decent sized chakra reserve to strengthen them that way.

"It's a side effect of the Kodaibito no Ikan," the youth stated dismissively. "I've got questions of my own Hokage-dono."

"Which you will get your answers for, however I would like to get a little more information on this Kodaibito no Ikan, and why it would have such a debilitating effect on its user."

"You want to know if it's a danger to Naruto. It's not…well not when it is used properly. The Kodaibito no Ikan is the storehouse of all Uzumaki knowledge. A person can seal themselves within it in order to learn the clan's secrets. Unfortunately, I was in there a lot longer than it is healthy. It didn't let me die, but the seal only stimulates the mind so my body suffered as a result." The redhead explained and then looked at the wizened leader with amusement. "So…Hokage-jiji."

"Ah yes..that," Hiruzen said as he tilted his hat forward to cover his eyes. "I've checked up on Naruto over the years, buying him lunch and helping him in a few of his exploits," not that the Council or Clan Heads would ever know that he was the one responsible for at least a quarter of Naruto's more insane pranks. "It seems that I have become something of a grandfather figure for him."

The boy smiled then. "So…that explains that," he said after a moment. "You're the reason why Naruto hasn't developed It yet aren't you?"

Hiruzen frowned. The boy was a lot smarter than he seemed then. "Yes indeed. I tried as best as I could, but I couldn't grant Naruto the life that he deserved."

"Naruto told me," Arashi admitted. "Of how the villagers viewed him. The hatred in their stares. Of his burden."

"And you know why I cannot return him to you then?"

"Oh I know, the treaty is still in effect. So long as Konoha has the Kyuubi, an Uzumaki must bear the burden," he said with a sigh. "I don't want to lose him, nor do I want to have my country turn into a puppet for Hi no Kuni. We are far too weak to just take him for ourselves."

"I am not adverse to Naruto reconnecting with his family. Perhaps a few visits now and then. It will surely help Naruto develop diplomatic skills."

At that Arashi laughed. "Of which he sorely lacks. I see where you're going with this Hokage-dono. I will have Naruto become the Spiral's ambassador to the Leaf."

"Yes. That will mean correspondence between him and the ruler of Uzu will be mandatory," he said as he smiled a little himself. "You do know that this won't stop me from poking around in your mind?"

"Does your Akimichi have skill in acupuncture?" Arashi asked after a moment.

"Well yes, Chouza is quite skilled in his clan's medical arts."

"Then how about this, your Akimichi stimulates my muscles, get me back to being able to move under my own power again, and you and I will have a conversation in my mind. I have to admit, there is information that I must give you that I cannot speak of," he said sitting back.

"And what sort of information would that be?"

"Details of the event on October Tenth."

"You are a lot more than you seem Uzumaki-dono."

"Why thank you Hokage-dono."

**-LU-**

"Why would the Hokage come here all by himself?" Sakura pondered as they were walking out to the forest.

"What do you mean Sakura-chan? Hokage-jiji wasn't by himself."

"Indeed you are right Naruto-kun. Hokage-sama arrived with three guards," Kakashi said as he read from his Icha Icha, keeping pace a little behind his students.

"Ne Kakashi-sensei you forgot about the ANBU on the ceiling. He's kinda weird though," Naruto said after a moment.

"What do you mean Naruto?"

"He's the same color as Arashi-nii."

"Same color?" Sasuke asked as he looked at the blond idiot. Alright with the Hokage himself coming to meet with the redhead, meant that the boy was of royal lineage. Only royals were important enough to have face to face meetings with the Hokage, which was probably why nobody believed that Naruto and the Hokage regularly met, but if Arashi was truly a royal, than so was Naruto. It was a bit mind boggling, but all the signs were there, that didn't stop the dobe from being stupid though. On the other hand, perhaps becoming friends with Naruto would have benefits. The boy would eventually have access to assets that Sasuke could use to find that man.

"Yeah yeah. Dark grey blue."

"Like Arashi's chains?" Sakura asked after a moment.

"That color is actually slate. Dark slate blue," Kakashi said after a moment. An Anbu with dark slate blue chakra..he wouldn't mean Tenzou now would he? And how would Naruto know of chakra's colors. Could he see them? "Naruto can you tell me Team Seven's colors?"

"Umm..okay," Naruto said as he focused on them, scrunching his face up so that it looked fox-like. "Kakashi sensei is white," he said after a moment. "Sakura-chan is red, just like her dress. Sasuke's like that stupid fan he wears on his back. White and red. Well the red is small in the center and surrounded by white."

"And yourself Naruto?"

"Orange!"

"Baka! That's just the colors we're wearing!" Sakura said as she moved to smack Naruto, but was surprised when Kakashi stopped her.

"Not yellow?"

"No. Orange," Naruto said firmly.

"And Hokage-sama?"

"Well that's kinda weird. It's almost black, but I know that it's like a super dark slate and red. Kinda like Sasuke's."

Damn. Even he didn't know that Naruto had the makings of a sensor, to think that the reason why the boy wore orange was to show off his unique chakra color, a unique chakra color that signified an elemental kekkei genkai, and nobody had bothered to ask or realize why the boy was wearing it! "Fascinating," Kakashi said. "Maa maa, now I won't get to test you guys on your elemental affinities. You really are an uncute genin Naruto."

"What do the colors have to do with elemental affinities sensei?" Sakura asked as she looked at her teacher.

"Well, as you know Team 7 would continue until all of you make Jounin," Kakashi explained. "When a member makes it to Chuunin, the Jounin-sensei is supposed to check that student's elemental affinity. Depending on whether the affinities clash or not, that student will either stay with their sensei or find a better one."

"So wait, when we make Chuunin only Sasuke gets to stay with you?" Naruto asked eyes a little wide.

"Oh no, because of my Sharingan, I know enough of the other affinities to be able to train anyone. It's why Hokage-sama kept trying to give me a Genin team."

"So what are our affinities?" Sasuke asked as he looked at the man.

"Hmm…well let me see. Naruto said that mine was white, which means that I have a lightning affinity. He got that spot on," he said to his students. "Sakura is red, so she has a fire affinity. Sasuke has both, which means that he can utilize both fire and lightning techniques easily, but would have better skill with lightning chakra."

"And me sensei?" Naruto asked bouncing in place.

"Ah, now that is the most difficult one," Kakashi said as he thought about it. "Yellow is the color of wind, and red is the color of fire. Having both would just end up with something like Sasuke, together but separate. But your color is orange which means that Naruto has an elemental kekkei genkai, one that combines the fire and wind elements to create something new."

"Wow," Naruto said as he thought it over. "Hey what about Arashi-nii and Hokage-jiji?"

"Arashi-san has dark slate blue chakra. Now where they separate? Slate and blue like Sasuke's or combined like yours?"

"Combined."

"Then he has an earth and water elemental kekkei genkai," he said. Which meant depending on the strength the boy could have anything from being able to manipulate mud, to something as extraordinary as the fabled Mokuton.

"And Hokage-jiji?" Naruto asked bouncing in place.

"The Hokage is very skilled in most of the elements, which is why his chakra is a dark color, but his primary elements were earth and fire, which would be why his is a very dark red and slate."

"Ooh Zabuza was blue, but the hunter-nin was green. What does green mean sensei?"

"Blue is an affinity with water," Kakashi mused as he thought about it. "Green is not one of the primary elemental colors…so the other person being green would mean that Zabuza's accomplice has an elemental kekkei genkai like Naruto, though it would be wind and water as opposed to Naruto's wind and fire."

"So what would that mean in a combat situation?" Sasuke asked eyes calculating. Naruto was starting to prove to be a greater and greater asset. Who knew that the dobe actually had abilities that made him worthwhile. Now if only he could stop acting stupid, then Sasuke might be able to consider him useful. Too bad Sakura was still nothing more than dead weight.

"Well if Naruto were trained in his elements, he could be the perfect counter for the hunter-nin's attacks. Their abilities probably canceling each other out."

"So so, are you going to train us in our elemental chakra Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked clearly excited.

"No, I'm going to teach you how to climb trees."

"What!"

**-TED-**

While Arashi was busy chatting it up with the Hokage, the Third's guards were having a little discussion of their own. "I still don't understand why he had us accompany him," Inoichi said. "I mean, sure I understand why I would be here, but reading the mind of a Daimyo…I don't know it sounds a bit like overstepping the boundaries."

"Hokage-sama might be overstepping his bounds," Nara Shikaku said as he leaned against the tree in typical lazy Nara fashion "but he does have a very compelling reason. That boy has the power to tear Konoha apart if he wishes it, has ties to the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi, and probably has access to the secret techniques of the Uzumaki clan. If he wanted to, he could utterly destroy Konoha."

"Which brings us to a strange dilemma," Chouza said as he crossed his arms. "If the boy is the Uzumaki Clan leader, than I as an Akimichi am honor bound to fight at his side. And if he wanted to recall us," he left that point hanging as Inoichi got the gist of what would happen.

"Then the Four Noble clans would leave Konoha. The Uzumakis truly did have that level of power?" Inoichi asked awed. "Then why wasn't Naruto raised by them?" he asked turning to his old teammate.

"There were many troublesome reasons," Shikaku decided to answer, being Jounin Commander he knew more about the situation than Chouza did. "If any of the noble clans got him, they would gain a lot of prestige, and through Naruto would manage to gain control of the other three clans."

"The Uchiha?"

"And the Hyuuga to a lesser extent."

"Though the Hyuuga wouldn't have to try that hard. If little Hinata-chan could ever muster up the courage to confess," Chouza added with a chuckle. He could see why Hiashi never tried to dissuade his daughter from stalking the Jinchuriiki. Hell if he had any female clan members around Naruto's age he would have tried the same tactic himself. "And don't think we didn't try to look after him even with all the roadblocks the Daimyo tried to put between us."

Shikaku chuckled at that. "It was very clever Chouza. Get the civilian brother-in-law of a Hyuuga to let the boy rent an apartment in their territory, though a low income one to throw people off the trail. The Aburame secretly providing security, and let the boy have bargain meals at Teuchi's ramen stand…a stand financed by the Akimichi."

"Wait the Daimyo himself ordered the clans not to assist Naruto?" Inoichi sputtered surprised.

"Indeed. Not one of his more popular edicts," Chouza said grumpily. "He didn't want us influencing the boy in anyway. Naruto is the Jinchuriiki of Konoha. The Daimyo could ill afford a person of Naruto's potential to feel loyalty to a country that was already dead. Nor could he afford the loss of the Noble clans if they left Konoha to support Naruto in Uzu."

"But the existence of a twin. Now that makes the situation troublesome," Shikaku added as his brilliant mind thought over several scenarios. "The Daimyo's plans have backfired. Naruto now has someone he could possibly be loyal to…that is if the boy is actually who he says he is."

"So what will happen if the boy isn't an Uzumaki, or if he's a threat?"

Chouza stiffened for a moment and looked worriedly at the house. "If he's an imposter or a threat, he's signed his own death warrant."

"But Naruto has already met him."

"Which makes this so troublesome. If he is a threat, he dies. Then you'll get to be the first Yamanaka to use your mind jutsu on a Jinchuriiki."

Inoichi abruptly paled at that thought. "Use…do you even know how dangerous that could be?"

"Which is probably why Hokage-sama classified this as an S-ranked mission Inoichi," the Nara drawled as he looked over at the former head of T and I. "It is also why Tenzo is here, should Naruto lose control of the Kyuubi after we've dealt with the imposter."

"Still I hope he isn't a threat. He'd be good for Naruto. Sasuke too," Inoichi said.

"Oh?" Chouza said clearly interested now.

"Yes, well if Arashi-kun is a real Uzumaki, and he does have access to the clan's secrets. Well that would mean that we could revive several of the lost fighting styles, but more importantly the Uzumaki's lost fuinjutsu arts. Seals that were said to have been able to counter almost any sealing technique."

"You believe that there might be something in those archives that might be able to undo Itachi's Yin seal on Sasuke?"

"That's a lot of wishful thinking Inoichi. It's also very dependent on several things. The boy being an Uzumaki for one, and more importantly, if he was willing to let us have access to those seals in the first place. We shouldn't get too ahead of ourselves until we have confirmed he is who he said he is, otherwise everything else will just be troublesome."

"Are you idiots done gossiping like old wives! I need you in here!" the Hokage's voice bellowed and the three Jounin sweat dropped, wondering how much the Hokage had heard of their rather lengthy discussion.

**-LU-**

**So what do you guys think? I personally am not exactly happy with this chapter, and I dunno if the last third of it is any good, I wrote it when I was sick so it might not flow as good as the rest of it.**


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